PI machines

[clamdigger60]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of the Sand Shark v Sea Hunter v Infinium LS v Dual Field ?
I realise the SandShark is the lowest priced, but is there any performance differences?
Does the garrett PI discrimination circuitry work well enough to be a consideration?
Have I missed any diveable PI models?
Note to all: NOT trying to start a "detector war" here, just want user opinion/experience with these units.
Thanks for reading.
Cheers.

 

[scubadetector]

Fisher Pulse 8X and Fisher Labs Impulse. The Impulse isn't made anymore but can be found.

 

[clamdigger60]

SD
Aren't JW Fisher machines in the $2000 range?
What performance benefit over the above mentioned machines to justify additional cost?
Cheers

 

[scubadetector]

I have never used a pulse machine cause I am in fresh water so I can't help at all with performance.

 

[rarysgaard]

I have a Detector Pro PI & I am happy with it. It is very deep & very sensitive. I have both the 11'' & the 8" coils. I hardly ever use the 11" as the 8" is very deep. I have been told that it is as deep as the Dual Field. I almost bought the Dual Field & it seems to be the choice of the pros, I've watched on the videos. I have heard good things about the Sand Shark as well,especially at picking up chains. I hoped that helped. I only have experience with the Detector Pro

 

[hunt2day]

I have the Tesoro Sand Shark and hunt both salt water beaches and fresh water beaches in Florida. I find it to be very stable and if it is metal the SS will find it. Now it does not discriminate but the places I hunt are pretty clean and I like digging everything because you never know what you will find and I am never afraid I missed something. Although it is not the most expensive it is super stable in salt water and wet sand and that's what you want. Just my opinion.

 

[tvr]

The new Detector Pro Head Hunter pulse is not dive rated. The older version was. I don't know what the difference is in construction between the two. A call to Detector Pro can probably get you all the details. It is a very good metal finder.

Sand Shark runs a little bit quieter over changing bottom conditions than the Head Hunter pulse but I think the HH pulse is slightly deeper and a little more expressive in the tone over a target. Those are the two PI's I've used. Both are very capable detectors and pretty easy to learn.

Have not used any of the others but have found it interesting to see a couple of long time LS users are now spending a lot of time with either a Dual Field or a Sand Shark and being very successful.

I hope some experienced LS and Sea Hunter users chime in.
Cheers,
tvr

 

[panama rich]

About the Infinium for beach hunting:
It is a great nugget hunter, so expect good results on small gold. Swing slowly for best results. The discrimination works to the full depth of detection.
Though not perfect it is a great help and if you don't do well at the beach you can always go nugget shooting. The 10 X 14 Mono is the best beach
coil for dry sand and the 8 inch Mono for surf use.
Rich

 

[clamdigger60]

What is the average "street price" for a Dual Field. Whites does not publish their msrp on Cdn sites.
I can get a SS for $680 taxes in;
SeaHunter for $710;
Infinium for $1125 (ouch!).
Canadian funds.

Obviously the higher end machines have pluses in their favour, but are they worth double or more money? The JW Fisher machines are very good, but very expensive. The VLF CZ-21 has its attractions as well, 3 tone ID, but its going for $1300 in my area!!!!!!
I'm reluctant to put "big bucks" into something that in all likelyhood will not find its own value in finds. I'm not really targetting "coin and jewelery" beachs. More along the lines of "age of sail" ship building sites, old Acadian occupied areas, and French/British confrontation locations. Fresh water sites would be 16th and 17th century water crossings, fords etc.

Thanks for all the informative replies, their seems to be a tremendous wealth of experience and knowledge in here.
Cheers

 

[Smudge]

Sand Shark: Excellent PI detector. Better to hip mount the control box to make the detector lighter. 8" coil is my preferred as depth is great and pinpointing is much easier. And with PI depth, you want the most accurate pinpointing you can get.

Sea Hunter: Never used this one but it has been around for years. The only thing I don't like about it is the discrimination knob. That is false advertising. There is no discrimination on a PI detector.

Infinium: Don't like this one because you have to buy too many accessories (waterproof headphones and mono coil) to make this thing beach ready.

Dual Field: Designed to be more sensitive to very small gold targets which is a plus, but I could never get used to that 12" coil that floats like a cork in the water. This thing starts to feel you are swinging a garbage can lid after awhile. Some people use this unit and love it. I never could.

 

[Tom Slick]

I've had all the PI's mentioned above except the Infinium. I still like to older PI Pro (unit before the Dual Field). It has great depth, Pinpoints well and I like the 950 coil better than the 12" Dual Field. Gets between rocks better also.

 

[worthy]

hi there, with the old style surf pi pro,you got the option of the wieghted coil, does this not apply to the dual field? the wieghted coil of the pi pro cuts through the water really well, can`t imagine trying to keep the coil submerged--must be distracting hh steve

 

[Bum Luck]

I only have the Infinium, but look over John Edmonton's posts since he uses it a lot.
Infinium forum